Reduced Medical Spending Associated With Integrated Pharmacy Benefits

July 26, 2021

Members covered by an integrated pharmacy benefit (as opposed to a pharmacy carve-out) experienced slower growth in medical spending. ABSTRACT Objectives: Although pharmacy benefit carve-outs are promoted as a cost-containment tool, their impact on medical spending is not well understood.

Study Design: Matched, longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: We identified members with coverage through an employer contracting for administrative services only (ie, self-insured) and determined whether they received a pharmacy benefit through BCBSLA. We matched members with and without integrated benefits using a baseline year and compared their medical spending trajectories in 3 subsequent years. These comparisons were repeated in the subset of patients with chronic comorbidities.

Read the source article at AJMC
2021-07-22 17:00:00

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